Being Present

The title of this blog is almost a cliché now days. It’s one of those phrases some preacher probably said in a sermon thinking he was really clever and now people say it over and over as though it’s the first time anyone has ever heard it.

It’s usually said to make us feel guilty about being on our cell phones too much or taking pictures of people, again with our cell phones, experiencing things instead of focusing on the experience ourselves.

There’s more to “being present” than merely not staring into our phones or having our minds on unfinished work. It’s deeper than that and gets away from us much more than most of us think.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s also not some meditative, isolated, and subjective phenomenon. Rather, it’s an unhurried embracing of the moment instead of looking forward to what we see as being a more exciting future somewhere else or some “when” else.

It’s similar to suspending disbelief when watching a movie. It’s more fun to believe and to avoid ruining the surprise of the ending by trying to figure it out instead of experiencing the story as it happens.

I think that one of the reasons relationships today are so shattered, even between good people, is because we look too far into the future. We attempt to become prophets. Today is enough. Right now. Figure out the future if and when it gets here. Squeeze every drop out of what is the present. Love the ones who love you back and want to be present with you.